Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al Nassr with a last-gasp penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw at Al Fateh in a thrilling Saudi Pro League clash
Cristiano Ronaldo got off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.
The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick in the 93rd minute for a point that left the Riyadh club joint top of the Saudi Pro League with a game in hand over Al Shabab.
Ronaldo broke his duck in his third appearance, after he fired blanks in the January 22 league win over Ettifaq and in this week’s Super Cup loss to Al Ittihad.
“Happy to have scored my first goal in the Saudi league and great effort by whole team to achieve an important draw in a very difficult match!” Ronaldo posted on social media after the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his first goal for Al-Nassr by posting Instagram message lauding his teammates who secured an ‘important’ 2-2 draw in a ‘very difficult match’ against Al-Fateh in the Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo claims he is ‘happy to have scored his first goal in the Saudi Pro League’ after opening his account for Al-Nassr during their 2-2 draw to Al-Fateh on Friday.
Having signed for the club back in January on a sensational £175m-a-year contract, it took the Portuguese superstar three games to get off the mark, scoring a 93rd minute penalty to bring his team level in the match.
And it was a hard fought point for the away side, who now go level with Al-Shabab at the top of the Saudi Pro League thanks to Ronaldo’s spot-kick heroics.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al-Nassr on Friday in a 2-2 draw vs Al-Fateh
But the former Man United man could have ended his duck for Al-Nassr a lot earlier in the match, with the Portuguese superstar having a goal ruled out in the first half for offside.
The hosts took the lead after 12 minutes, with Christian Tello capitalising on a well-worked cross, before Anderson Talisca, who would later be shown a red card, levelled for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo provided a cool finish late on in the game to nullify Sofiane Bendebka’s second-half goal for Al-Fateh, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner took to Instagram after the game to praise his team for their efforts in a tough game.
Posting several photos of himself during the match, the former Real Madrid star wrote: ‘Happy to have scored my first goal in the Saudi league and great effort by whole team to achieve an important draw in a very difficult match!’
Ronaldo has played 90 minutes in each of the three games he’s played with Al-Nassr, with the side winning, losing and now drawing each of those games.
And while the five-time Champions League winner has only just moved to Saudi Arabia, it appears talk is already starting to build over his future.
According to SPORT, Al-Nassr coach Rui Garcia last week said: ‘Ronaldo is a positive addition as he helps disperse defenders.
‘He’s [Ronaldo] one of the best players in the world. He won’t finish his career at Al-Nassr, he’ll go back to Europe.’
